Dentist.

[pen_grunt]

I hadn't been to the dentist in an embarrassingly long time. Not as embarrassingly long as I had initially thought, though.

My fears of a mouth full of cavities were unsubstantiated.

The bad: The dentist recommends four crowns on my back lower molars to prevent me from losing those teeth. To say this is not cheap is an understatement.

Still kinda bad: My insurance doesn't kick in coverage for things like crowns for 4 months, yet.

Not so bad: It's not urgent. I sort of knew that something like this would be inevitable some day. It's not my fault; the teeth are worn down due to orthodontic misalignment.

The kinda cool: I have free prescription toothpaste because I'm in an 8-week study now. I must look like a willing test subject. I always get roped into these things. Or, I should say, three of my teeth have been roped into this. Figuratively speaking.

I brush with high-flouride sensitivity toothpaste 2x a day. Then I fill out 4 surveys at intervals. Along the way they pay me $125. *shrug*

Comments

[smittenbyu]

I used to hear that after birth of child our calcium levels go down especially during breastfeeding - since the body takes on from your reserves. I know I went from cavity free to having 4 cavities post delivery. No idea if it has any truth/evidence to back it up! No idea... I'd like to think that could be the case, but likely I didn't care for my teeth as much as I should have! ahem...

How do you get roped into these studies? :)

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

The "Old Wives' Tale" is that you lose a tooth for every child. Pregnancy gingivitis is pretty common too. I was totally paranoid about having cavities because during pregnancy I both threw up a lot and craved (and ate) super-acidic grapefruit all the time.

This study came about because I have a few enamel-wear spots that are extra sensitive. My dentist was super-excited to ask me if I wanted to be in it. I didn't even ask what I had to do (brush with prescription toothpaste) before I said yes. :)